Amundi Boosts Holdings in Aramark (NYSE:ARMK)

Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) by 30.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 174,906 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 40,366 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Aramark were worth $6,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Aramark in the 3rd quarter valued at about $716,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Aramark by 7.2% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,570,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $254,427,000 after acquiring an additional 441,711 shares during the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP grew its holdings in Aramark by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 259,364 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,677,000 after acquiring an additional 35,616 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Aramark by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,363,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $169,028,000 after purchasing an additional 45,384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Aramark by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,732,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $67,106,000 after purchasing an additional 14,839 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ARMK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup assumed coverage on Aramark in a report on Monday, February 24th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $47.00 target price on shares of Aramark in a research report on Thursday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Aramark from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Aramark from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Aramark from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 7th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.42.

Aramark Stock Performance

Shares of ARMK stock opened at $35.51 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $37.38 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.84, a current ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.41 billion, a PE ratio of 27.96 and a beta of 1.60. Aramark has a 52-week low of $29.82 and a 52-week high of $42.49.

Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The company reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.03. Aramark had a return on equity of 14.72% and a net margin of 1.94%. The business had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.61 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Aramark will post 1.92 EPS for the current year.

Aramark Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 24th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 10th were issued a $0.105 dividend. This is an increase from Aramark’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.00. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 10th. This represents a $0.42 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Aramark’s payout ratio is presently 33.07%.

Aramark Company Profile

Aramark provides food and facilities services to education, healthcare, business and industry, sports, leisure, and corrections clients in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Food and Support Services United States, and Food and Support Services International. The company offers food-related managed services, including dining, catering, food service management, and convenience-oriented retail services; non-clinical food and food-related support services, such as patient food and nutrition, retail food, environmental services, and procurement services; and plant operations and maintenance, custodial/housekeeping, energy management, grounds keeping, and capital project management services.